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Thursday, 8 August 2013

Ever wondered what the inside of Dowth looks like?

This is one of the most interesting and useful videos relating to the Boyne Valley that I've seen in a long time. It's a fly-through tour of Dowth's northern and southern chambers based on laser scanning and gives you a real sense of what it's like inside. The survey work was carried out by David Strange-Walker of Trent & Peak Archaeology and Marcus Abbott of ArcHeritage. Thanks to Dr Steve Davis of University College Dublin, and the Office of Public Works, Ireland, for funding this project.

I was inside Dowth's northern chamber a number of years ago. I visited with a group, and we accessed this chamber through the souterrain, just as shown in this video. The imagery is from real scans, and is therefore incredibly accurate.

Those of you who have visited Dowth for the sunset at winter solstice might be familiar with the interior of the southern chamber, which is the shorter, circular chamber. However, the northern chamber is completely off bounds to the public - at least those who might never get the chance to go inside it can now do so virtually. Fantastic stuff.

Yes, the gates are a bit of a problem alright! But what can one do? This video certainly helps us to see inside a monument that is now largely off bounds. At least those who have never had the pleasure of being in there can get an idea what it's like.

Thia is absolutely fantastic! How fascinating. An I wrong or is Dowth bigger than Newgrange? It certainly has more chambers is seems. I've seen Newgrange and Knowth but Dowth was off limits by the time I got there as well...